Warts & All

Posted on October 23, 2021 by russellmckinney

Oliver Cromwell was a political and military leader in 17th century England who held the official title “Lord Protector of England.” He once commissioned an artist to paint an official portrait that would enshrine his appearance so that future generations would know what he looked like. It was typical in such portraits for the artist to paint the person’s appearance in a way that made the person more attractive. (We do this same kind of thing today by airbrushing photographs to take out wrinkles, blemishes, pimples, etc.). But as legend famously has it, Cromwell told the artist who was painting him to paint him “warts and all.” Supposedly, that explains the origins of that phrase.

The Bible certainly paints its characters warts and all. Noah gets drunk. Moses kills an Egyptian. David has an affair and sanctions a murder. Peter denies knowing Jesus. Thomas doubts Jesus’ resurrection. Paul is a persecutor of Christians before he becomes one himself. And yet God still uses these men in awesome ways to accomplish His work.

This should provide each of us with great encouragement because, let’s admit it, we’ve all got some warts. Oh, sure, we usually put forth our best face in public, but God knows how we look behind closed doors. He sees all the bad behavior. He hears all the ugly talk. He even knows the deep, dark inner stuff, the stuff that no one else knows but us. Still, though, He will use us in His service if we will let Him.

There’s an old saying that says, “God can hit a straight lick with a crooked stick.” If He couldn’t do that, He’d never hit a straight lick because there are no straight sticks. So, you say you’ve got some issues? Well, join the club. You say your past is marked by sin? Everybody else’s is too. It’s not that I’m making light of your shortcomings or excusing your sins, but I am trying to help you understand that God can still use you in His service. To get in on that you must first get saved by placing your belief in Jesus Christ, the One who died on the cross as the substitutionary sacrifice for your sins. Then you must get up each day and say, “Lord, use me today” and be obedient to whatever He tells you to do. If you do that I guarantee you that He will take you up on the offer. How can I make that guarantee with such confidence? I can do it because if there is one thing that is true about God it’s that He is always short on help.

Posted in Abortion, Addiction, Adultery, Alcohol, Anger, Backsliding, Christ's Death, Divorce, Divorce & Remarriage, Drugs, Encouragement, Gambling, God's Work, Grace, Guilt, Obedience, Rebellion, Repentance, Salvation, Service, Sin | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

When Lightning Strikes You

Posted on October 21, 2021 by russellmckinney

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:28-29, N.K.J.V.)

In the yard that lies adjacent to mine stands an apple tree. The former owner of that property was faithful to keep that tree trimmed as needed and the result was an annual harvest of delicious apples. Unfortunately, lightning hit that tree and split it at the top just prior to that neighbor selling the property, and the new neighbor has never trimmed and reshaped the damaged tree. Consequently, the apples the tree now produces are not even close to the previous quality.

I know a little bit about this subject because I saw the same thing happen to an apple tree that used to sit on my grandmother’s property. That tree produced the most plump and delicious Golden Delicious apples that I’ve ever tasted until lightning hit it and ruined it. The tree managed to hang on for a few years producing apples that weren’t remotely comparable to its previous ones, but eventually it was cut down. At that point the cutting down was pretty much a mercy kill.

Just as literal lightning struck those two apple trees, figurative lightning can strike us without warning. The unexpected death of a loved one. A fire. An automobile accident. A lost job. A pleasant circumstance that inexplicably turns horribly wrong. These are just a few examples of the destructive streaks of “lightning” that can decimate our lives.

Christian, perhaps your life has been struck by one of these “lightning” bolts and the blast not only damaged you but crippled you in terms of fruit production. Is there any way for you to recover? Yes, but it’s not something that you can do yourself. What I mean is, God is going to have to personally do some pruning on you. In the wake of your lightning strike, you need Him to reshape you, cut away the damaged parts of you, and get you back to a healthy spiritual state wherein you can once again produce sweet-tasting fruit.

The encouraging thing is that your post-lightning state doesn’t have to be inferior to your pre-lightning one. Remember our text passage. It teaches that ALL things work together for GOOD for the Christian. That promise includes not only the good things that happen to us but also the bad things. But be sure to notice just how it is that all things work together for the Christian’s good. They do so because they help accomplish God’s ultimate, eternal goal for the Christian. And what is that goal? It is the Christian being conformed to the image of God’s Son, Jesus.

As we study the gospels we learn that Jesus’ earthly life was struck by “lightning” on many different occasions. For the most part, His own nation of Israel rejected His claim of Messiahship. Even His own family, with the exception of His mother, rejected that claim. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes constantly hounded Him. Peter denied Him. Judas Iscariot betrayed Him. The Romans crucified Him. Do we honestly believe that these events (as well as others that could be named) didn’t adversely affect Jesus? If they didn’t, He wouldn’t have been human at all.

By keeping Jesus’ earthly troubles in mind we can understand that the “lightning” strikes in our lives become events that make us what Peter described as partakers of Christ’s sufferings (1 Peter 4:13). You see, if we truly want to understand Jesus and align ourselves with Him, we must suffer in this same old world that once made Him suffer. By doing this we will be able to experience gladness and joy in that day when Christ’s glory is fully revealed (1 Peter 4:13). That day will be the day of His Second Coming, the day when He will visibly return to the earth and establish His thousand-year reign upon it (Matthew 25:31). We Christians will have the great privilege of ruling and reigning with Him during that reign (Revelation 5:8-10).

Of course, we will be in our glorified bodies by then, and receiving those bodies will be the final, completing stage in us becoming conformed to the image of Jesus. Even before we receive those bodies, though, God goes ahead and begins the process of conforming us to that image. And, again, before we can become like Jesus we must experience some of the pain and heartache this world can produce. So, Christian, even as you ask God to prune you and reshape you after some kind of destructive “lightning” has struck you, don’t forget to see the value in what has happened to you. Because of that “lightning” strike you are a little more conformed to Christ’s image, and that is a good thing even though you surely didn’t like how it came to pass.

Posted in Adversity, Christ's Death, Christ's Return, Complaining, Disappointment, Discipleship, Persecution, Perseverance, Personal, Problems, Suffering, Trials | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Christ’s Teachings Don’t Save Us

Posted on October 19, 2021 by russellmckinney

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. (Ephesians 1:7, N.K.J.V.)

One Sunday morning a pastor preached about Christ’s crucifixion. The sermon featured graphic detail about how Christ’s literal blood was literally shed as Jesus died as the substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of the human race. After the service a woman approached the pastor and said, “Preacher, I don’t like to hear so much about Jesus’ death. I’d much rather focus on His wonderful life. There is so much for us to learn from the example He left us of how to live the Christian life.”

“So,” said the pastor, “are you saying that you’d rather hear about Jesus as a role model than as a martyr?” The woman thought about that for a moment and answered, “Yes, that’s one way of putting it. I think we follow Him by living the way that He lived.” Now the pastor knew that the woman was caught in a theological trap. He smiled at her and said, “Then you’ve got a serious problem because you can’t even take the first step to follow Jesus.” Somewhat insulted, the woman asked, “Why can’t I?” The pastor, with his smile now completely wiped from his face, said, “Because Jesus committed no sin and you can’t match Him in that step.”

Then the pastor offered an illustration to expound upon his point. He said, “Suppose that you are speeding in your car, have a terrible wreck, and wind up pinned inside your car. As you are lying there trapped, a man pulls his car to the side of the road and comes over to help you. He says, ‘What you need to do is not drive so fast. You should be like me; I never break the speed limit.’ Then the man gets back into his car and leaves. Has he helped you? Of course not. You see, before you can follow the good example set by that other driver you must first be rescued! And just like that wrecked driver, you must first be rescued by Jesus before you can even begin to try to follow Him.”

Jesus’ teachings, as deeply profound as they were, cannot produce salvation in anyone’s life. It is only through Him shedding His divine blood in death that salvation can be offered to a world full of spiritual car-wreck victims. That is why Jesus’ death must take priority over His teachings. It’s not that those teachings aren’t important and don’t hold incalculable value to our lives; it’s just that we are far too sinful in our natural state to even begin to emulate them successfully until we experience the salvation He is able to provide us because of His death. And He provides that salvation the moment we place saving belief in Him. At that moment the Holy Spirit comes to takes up residence inside us, bring us to life spiritually, and empower us to live out those teachings.

Posted in Christ's Death, Crucifixion, Doctrine, Preaching, Priorities, Salvation | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Tator Family

Posted on October 15, 2021 by russellmckinney

Every church knows the Tator family. It’s a very large family, and even if all of the family members don’t attend any one church, some of them surely will. But just in case you aren’t familiar with the Tators, allow me to introduce them.

#1. There is Dictator. This is the church member who wants to control every aspect of the church. Typically, Dictator would rather attend a small congregation than a large one because smaller ones are much easier to control.

#2. There is Agitator. This is the church member who constantly keeps trouble stirred up in the congregation. Agitator thinks peace and tranquility are boring but can’t wait to get to church whenever a church scandal is taking place.

#3. There is Irritator. This is the church member who irritates the entire congregation by complaining and whining about everything. People see Irritator coming and immediately head the other way.

#4. There is Commentator. This is the church member who feels compelled to voice an opinion about any and all topics. Commentator is a know-it-all who loves playing the role of the smartest person in the room.

#5. There is Spectator. This is the church member who attends services but never gets personally involved in any of the doings of the church. Spectator is thoroughly content to just sit and soak but never serve.

#6. There is Rotator. This is the church member who rotates sporadic attendance in at least two churches but perhaps as many as three or four. Rotator doesn’t believe in sinking down roots in any church, preferring instead to take a church’s preaching, singing, church programs, etc. into consideration before deciding to attend.

#7. There is Hesitator. This is the church member who won’t help the congregation make a decision even when a decision must be made. Hesitator is paralyzed by the fear of making a wrong decision and will always advise taking a “Let’s wait and see” approach.

#8. There is Amputator. This is the church member who is always looking to cut away someone or something. Amputator is lightning quick to drop inactive members from membership rolls, do away with struggling programs, and cut the church budget by eliminating various line items.

#9. There is Imitator. This is the church member who believes the church should imitate all the characteristics and programs of any church that is growing and thriving. Imitator believes that cookie-cutter strategies are the way to go and that anything that works well in one church will surely work well in every church.

#10. There is Devastator. This is the church member who will not rest until the congregation lies in ruins. Devastator is a multitalented person who knows how to start a rumor, bring an accusation, play one church clique off another, turn a business meeting into a riot, and create a problem where there isn’t one.

After reading this list, I think you’ll agree with me that the Tator family is certainly a formidable group, aren’t they? Here’s hoping that you don’t have any of them in your church. Even more than that, here’s hoping that you aren’t one of the family. If, however, you simply must be a member of that family tree, let me encourage you to be a member of another branch altogether. That branch has members such as Mediator, Rehabilitator, Resuscitator, and Facilitator. Now there’s a list of some people from which our churches could surely benefit.

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Count to Ten

Posted on October 13, 2021 by russellmckinney

I’m reading David Jeremiah’s book Daily in His Presence for my daily devotion times this year. A couple of weeks ago, in a devotion entitled Waiting, he wrote the following:

Everyone is familiar with the “count to ten” rule. When tempted to speak impulsively or rashly, walk away while counting to ten — ten seconds or possibly ten minutes. Waiting before speaking can often calm one’s emotions. Likewise, when tempted to make an impulsive purchase, wait ten days, then decide if the purchase is something you really need. Often you will decide the item is a want rather than a need, and the money you save will be most welcome.

While I had heard about using this rule in regards to seconds, what struck me was that Dr. Jeremiah extrapolated it out to ten minutes and even ten days. For that matter, I suppose we could keep going and carry it out to ten weeks, ten months, or ten years. That would definitely be playing the long game with the rule.

As Dr. Jeremiah pointed out, the value of using the “count to ten” rule in any of these forms is that it will keep you from using your impulsiveness foolishly or sinfully. It should be noted, however, that some situations really don’t require any waiting. For example, when the drowning Peter cried out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately stretched out His hand and caught him (Matthew 14:30-31). Likewise, Peter, Andrew, James, and John immediately left their fishing businesses behind when Jesus said to them, “Follow Me” (Matthew 4:18-22). With such exceptions in mind, though, I trust that we all understand that many situations in life do lend themselves quite nicely to the “count to ten” rule.

So, where does this find you right now? Are you currently debating whether or not you should do a certain thing, say a certain thing, or commit to a certain thing? Well, I guess the fact that you are still debating it shows that God hasn’t give you a clear-cut peace about it yet. And if that’s the case, you would be well advised to employ the “count to ten” rule. Maybe God will just want you to wait a quick ten seconds before committing yourself to that course of action the next time the opportunity presents itself. Then again, maybe He will want you to wait ten weeks, ten months, or even ten years. Please understand that I’m not trying to talk you out of that idea you are rehearsing in your mind. I’m just trying to get you to slow down long enough to do it in God’s timing. As for the specifics of your case and how you apply the “count to ten “rule — or if you even need to apply it at all — that’s something you’ll have to hash out with God.

Posted in Choices, Decisions, Doubt, God's Timing, God's Will, Impatience, Patience, Peace, Personal, Temptation, Waiting | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

How to Receive God’s Best

Posted on October 11, 2021 by russellmckinney

And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17, N.K.J.V.)

The story is told of a wealthy man who collected rare works of art. This man had one child, a son who went to war to fight for his country. Tragically, the son died in battle while rescuing one of his fellow soldiers.

One day there was a knock at the wealthy man’s door. It was the soldier for whom his son had given his life. The young man said to the father, “Sir, I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him, killing him instantly. Since he often talked about your love of art, I want you to have this.” The young man then handed over a painting that he had done. It was a portrait of the wealthy man’s son.

The wealthy man died just a few months later, and a great auction was held at his home to clear out his vast collection of valuable paintings. Many rich, influential people showed up for the auction, and they were all surprised when the portrait of the son, painted by the untrained soldier, was the first painting up for auction. The auctioneer began the bidding at $100 but found no takers. Despite his best attempts to sell the amateurishly done portrait, no one was interested in buying it.

Finally, after a minute or so of awkward silence in the room, the wealthy man’s longtime gardener, who was nothing more than a curious spectator at the auction, said, “I’ll give $10 for the painting just to have a remembrance of the son.” The auctioneer said, “$10 is the bid, going once, going twice, SOLD for $10.” Then he said to the large crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen, the auction is concluded. I was told that whoever gets the son gets EVERYTHING.”

Did this story actually happen? Probably not. But that doesn’t diminish the message it conveys. That message is: Whoever gets Jesus gets EVERYTHING that God the Father has to offer. So tell me, do you have Jesus? If you don’t you are missing out on that which is most important, not only for this life but for eternity.

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“We Don’t Know What to Do, but Our Eyes Are Upon You”

Posted on October 8, 2021 by russellmckinney

“O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” (2 Chronicles 20:12, N.K.J.V.)

Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah, Israel’s southern kingdom. One day he received a report that a massive allied army of Moabites and Ammonite had marched into Judah (2 Chronicles 20:1-2). Knowing that God was Judah’s only hope against such overwhelming forces, Jehoshaphat proclaimed a time of national fasting and prayed for God to fight for his people (2 Chronicles 20:3-12). The words of our text verse were how he closed that prayer.

God responded to Jehoshaphat’s prayer by delivering Judah from the hand of the invading army. God accomplished that victory by having the enemy soldiers become so confused that they actually started killing one another (2 Chronicles 20:13-23). The army of Judah didn’t even have to do any actual fighting. They simply collected all the spoils from the dead soldiers (2 Chronicles 20:24-29).

Admittedly, God doesn’t always provide such supernatural victories. For that reason, I don’t want the focus of this post to be upon the victory itself. Instead, I want it to be upon Jehoshaphat’s great statement, where he says to God “We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

I grew up watching the popular television show MASH. The term “MASH” is an acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, and the show was centered around the doctors and nurses who worked in the 4077th MASH during the Korean War. Even though the Korean War itself only lasted from 1950 to 1953, MASH the show aired on CBS from 1972 to 1983. Yes, the show lasted about four times longer than the war it depicted.

One episode from MASH’S final season is a real standout. It features the actor Patrick Swayze (before he became a bigtime movie star) playing a young soldier named Gary Sturgis whose wartime injuries make him a patient at the 4077th. When surgeon “Hawkeye” Pierce does some routine bloodwork on Sturgis he discovers that Sturgis has leukemia. That begins a dilemma within Pierce as he tries to decide whether or not to tell the young man about the fatal diagnosis. Pierce’s initial reaction is to keep the diagnosis from Sturgis so that Sturgis can best enjoy what time he has left, but Sturgis finally confronts him and forces the news from him.

Later, as Pierce is sitting alone in the camp’s mess hall, chaplain Father Mulcahy walks in and strikes up a conversation. Pierce explains what has happened and expresses his doubts that he did the right thing in telling Sturgis. He says to Mulcahy, “I wish I could believe I did the right thing.” Mulcahy’s response is, “A doctor is still just a human being. All you can do is follow your instincts.” To that, Pierce says somewhat angrily, “My instincts are to cure him” and gets up and slowly walks out of the mess hall.

What do you do when you have no control over what is happening? What do you do when you can’t make happen what your instincts are telling you needs to happen? You throw up your hands and do what Jehoshaphat did. You say, “Lord, I don’t know what to do, but my eyes are upon You.” You see, God doesn’t expect you to perform miracles or do the impossible. He just wants you to cast your cares upon Him because He cares for you. Leave the outcome of the situation with Him, and trust Him to do the right thing regarding it. I won’t try to predict what that outcome might be, but whatever it is, it will be God’s responsibility because you left the deciding to Him.

Posted in Adversity, Decisions, Discernment, Dying To Self, Entertainment, God's Will, Personal, Problems, Submission, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Separating From Your Ephraim

Posted on October 6, 2021 by russellmckinney

Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone! (Hosea 4:17, N.I.V.)

The tribe called Ephraim took its name from Joseph’s son Ephraim and was one of the most prominent tribes in Israel’s northern kingdom. As a matter of fact, the prophet Hosea used the name “Ephraim” in a general way to represent the entirety of that kingdom. That’s how he uses the name in our text verse.

The verse is part of a passage in which Hosea warns “Judah,” a tribal name the prophet uses to represent the entirety of Israel’s southern kingdom, to stay away from “Ephraim.” The point is that God wanted the Jews of the southern kingdom to stay away from the Jews of the northern kingdom lest they become spiritually contaminated by the northern kingdom’s pervasive idolatry. Just as a loving father would warn his child to stay away from certain people, God spoke through Hosea to warn the citizens of “Judah” to stay away from the citizens of “Ephraim.” That’s what God means by the words, “leave him alone.”

What we have here is an example of the Biblical concept of separation. God didn’t want the Jews of Judah to have any dealings whatsoever with the Jews of Ephraim. He didn’t want them to associate with those people, have business dealings with them, or intermarry with them. He certainly didn’t want them to worship with them. Believe it or not, He didn’t even want them to witness to those people. The separation was to be thorough and absolute.

For centuries God had commanded the nation of Israel to remain separate from the idolatrous nations that surrounded them, but now He was commanding one branch of Israel to remain separate from the other branch. This shows us that there can be times when God wants godly family members to separate from ungodly relatives. The old saying, “Family sticks together” doesn’t always apply, especially when certain family members go rouge against God and His word. Certainly these times of complete separation are rare, but they do sometimes occur.

Tell me, Christian, do you have someone in your life right now — be it a family member or someone else — who is hindering your walk with the Lord? If you do, have you considered the possibility that God might want you to separate yourself from that person completely? I’m not saying that He is; I’m just floating out the idea. Perhaps He even wants you to separate from an entire group of people just as He wanted each individual citizen of Israel’s southern kingdom to separate from the entire population of the northern kingdom. Whatever your specific case may be, all I’m asking is that you be open to the idea of leaving some individual or some group alone for the sake of your own godliness. Ephraims are out there everywhere, and God’s Judahs need to have the discernment to know when to avoid them altogether.

Posted in Family, Friendship, Idolatry, Influence, Personal Holiness, Separation | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

God’s Tear Bottles

Posted on October 4, 2021 by russellmckinney

You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? (Psalm 56:8 N.K.J.V.)

Life can sure make us cry. We lose loved ones. Disease strikes. Tragedy occurs. We suffer setbacks. We get our hearts broken. Sometimes we bring the hurt on ourselves because of our poor choices, but other times we get hurt through absolutely no fault of our own. Regardless of how our hurts come, though, oftentimes they result in tears.

That’s why it’s so wonderful to know that we have a God who loves us enough to not only collect our tears and put them into His bottle but also somehow record them in His book. If God doesn’t do these things, why would He have inspired David to pen the words of Psalm 56:8? The clear implication is that God wants us to know that He does these things.

Before David says, “God, put my tears into Your bottle” he first says, “God, You number my wanderings.” The Hebrew word translated as “number” is sapar and while it can mean to proclaim, declare, or tell, its primary meaning is to number or count. For example, it is first used in Genesis 15:5 when God tells Abram to count the stars to see if he can “number” them, and it’s also used in reference to the census whereby David “numbered” the people of Israel (2 Samuel 24:10). Therefore, the teaching of Psalm 56:8 is that God was numbering (keeping count of, keeping a record of) the events of David’s life. Furthermore, since the heading over the Psalm tells us that David penned the Psalm when he was in a very unpleasant situation in the Philistine city of Gath, the “wanderings” of which he speaks surely include times of trouble.

As for David asking God to put his tears into His bottle, did you know that archaeologists have unearthed bottles from the ancient world that were actually used as “tear bottles”? In Biblical times in the East, when a person was sick, in pain, or in distress, that person’s friend could visit him and bring along a tear bottle. If the person being visited started crying, the friend would open up the tear bottle and catch some of the tears in it. Later on, whenever the visited person died, the friend would take the tear bottle to the grave site and leave it there as a memorial to commemorate the sad event that had produced the tears.

This is the custom that David has in mind when he says to God, “Put my tears into Your bottle.” In the word picture that David is painting, he is the one who is crying and God is the one who is visiting him. David says to God, “Put my tears into your bottle” because he wants God to remember the moment that life reduced him to the tears. Again, in the specific context of the Psalm, that moment came when David found himself in perilous trouble in Gath (1 Samuel 21:10-15).

Now, as beautiful as this picture of God collecting His peoples’ tears is, it gets even better. I say that because Revelation 21:4 tells us that in eternity God will wipe away the Christian’s every tear. I’ll admit that I used to read that verse and be puzzled by it. What puzzled me was the whole idea of tears having any part of the blissful afterlife the Bible promises Christians. Surely we won’t be shedding any tears of pain in eternity, right? Well, how then will we have tears for God to wipe away?

The answer is that they will be tears we have cried during our earthly lives. You see, God will pull out all those tear bottles that He has for each of us, the bottles in which He has captured the tears we cried on earth. Then He will open those bottles, set those tears free again, and once and for all wipe them away as we stand there and watch Him do it. Isn’t that one of the Bible’s most beautiful promises for the saved believer?

Like David, we’ve all shed some tears at various times in our lives. Some of the tears were tears of joy, but most of them were tears of pain. Many of us have even asked God during our times of pain, “Lord, don’t You care?” But the words of Psalm 56:8 are the Bible’s proof that He does care. As a matter of fact, He cares enough to collect our tears and save them for that eternal day when He will wipe them away for good.

I don’t know about you but that helps me. It encourages me, comforts me, and makes me long for the afterlife all the more. It also makes me wonder just how many tear bottles God has with my name on them. I’m guessing there are more than I know because He has bottles to commemorate times that I’ve forgotten about long ago. In a weird way, the more bottles He has for a person the greater the celebration will be when all those tears get wiped away. So, if you know Jesus as your Savior, and you’ve done some crying in your life, hang in there. One day you and the Lord will have your own private party as all those tears become mere memories of painful times the likes of which you will never experience again.

Posted in Adversity, Comfort, Disappointment, Encouragement, Eternity, God's Love, Heaven, Suffering | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Balls & Strikes

Posted on October 2, 2021 by russellmckinney

Baseball is my favorite sport, and it’s the last weekend of Major League Baseball’s regular season. All the playoff spots for the postseason haven’t been claimed yet, and that makes for a very exciting ending to the regular season. So, since I’m in a baseball mood, here’s a baseball illustration for you.

One day three umpires were sitting around talking. The first umpire said to the other two, “Fellows, there are balls and there are strikes, and I just call them the way I see them.” The second umpire replied, “Well, that’s alright for you, but I do a much better job than that; I don’t just call them the way I see them, I call them the way they are.” To that the third umpire ended the discussion by saying, “Guys, let’s be real. There are balls and there are strikes, but they are nothing until we say what they are.”

There are a lot of people these days who think they are playing the role of that third umpire. They think they can decide what is morally right. They think they can interpret scripture in a way that aligns with their own logic. They think they can dictate what is God’s will and what isn’t God’s will. In essence, they knock God off His rightful throne and claim it for themselves. This, of course, is the height of human arrogance.

Telecasts of Major League Baseball games now offer a fascinating feature. Immediately following any pitch a computerized “strike zone” box can be digitally imposed onto the area surrounding home plate. This box allows the viewer to see something the umpire can’t see: literal lines that represent the parameters of the strike zone. If a pitch sails past the batter and is within the lines of the computerized zone, the pitch should be called a strike. If it falls outside the lines of the zone, it should be called a ball. What this new technology has done is lend credence to what players and managers have been saying for well over a century: umpires miss some calls. There is even a minority group of players, managers, and fans now who want to do away with human umpires altogether and just use the computerized technology to determine what gets called a ball and what gets called a strike.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had such technology to help us with our behavior, our interpretations of scripture, and our discernment of God’s will? Just as we use a g.p.s. system to find our way from point A to point B, we could use our digital box to find our way into the parameters of what is pleasing to God in regards to our behavior, our interpretations of scripture, and our discernment of His will. But no such technology has been developed yet, has it? And it never will be. That means that we’ve just got to stick with the old tools at our disposal: serious scriptural study, serious prayer, and serious dying to self. These are the tools that people of God have been using for thousands of years to live lives pleasing to Him, and these tools will still work for us today if we will use them correctly.

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